Álex Márquez wins the Spanish Grand Prix exactly six months after his last win in Malaysia and back-to-back at this circuit. He was followed home by Marco Bezzecchi, whose winning streak of five is now over, and another podium for Fabio Di Gianantonio.
While the race was a little bit of a game of follow the leader, it could have been very different if Marc Márquez hadn’t crashed in turn two.
Race Start
M.Márquez had an incredible start, followed into turn one by Bezzecchi and Á.Márquez. It did not take long for Á.Márquez to make his way up the field, going from third to first in a lap and a half. His brother was chasing him down.
Before we could see how the battle between the brothers would unfold, M.Márquez had a huge crash in turn 11. M.Márquez lost the front and couldn’t save the crash. The bike barreled into the gravel, causing significant damage. Thankfully, M.Márquez walked away from the incident, continuing his streak of no podiums in main races.
Just after the crash, Di Gianntonio moved past Jorge Martín to split up the Aprilias. Johann Zarco’s performance was also impressive, finishing 7th. He was the top Honda in the race, with Luca Marini in 13th.
The race was a mixed bag for the KTM. While all 3 running bikes (Maverick Viñales is out after shoulder surgery) finished in the points, it was Enea Bastianini who was the strongest of them all. Pedro Acosta’s race was weak, and he fell down the field like a stone in the middle of the race. This could be due to a wing that got knocked off during an incident with Raúl Fernández.
On Lap 13, Francesco Bagnaia ran wide at turn one and at the end of the lap pulled into the pits to retire from the race. It is suspected that there was a front-end issue with how he was viewing the machine on the way back to the pits.
The Trackhouse MotoGP Team riders had a battle on the last lap, with Ai Ogura coming out on top.
In the end, it was Álex Márquez who crossed the line first by 1.9 seconds over Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Gianantonio. Á.Márquez knew he was in control and waved to the crowd on his way round to the finish.
Post Race Quotes
“Overall, we have done a great weekend” – Fabio Di Gianantonio
“I’m very, very happy. It was important to have a good race today after yesterday.” – Marco Bezzecchi
“There isn’t many words to describe how I am feeling.” – Álex Márquez
Bezzecchi still leads the championship, and the racing will continue in two weeks for the French Grand Prix in Le Mans.